London Fashion Week AW20 Pick: Shrimps

Shrimps founder Hannah Weiland can be credited with (and should be celebrated for)  making faux fur a far more desirable choice than real fur, so it seems fitting that her AW20 show at London Fashion Week was dedicated to The Queen who is the most famous faux fur convert, having sworn off real fur herself last year.

Of course, since Weiland launched her brand in 2013, it has evolved beyond faux fur coats (but it still does those very well) and into a fully fledged ready to wear brand, with a desirable accessories line featuring giant faux pearl embellished bags and hair slides, popular with her Instgram-obsessed millennial following.

She took her accessories offer to another level this season offering embroidered bun covers, faux fur-trimmed hats, "sea glass" inspired jewellery, and balaclavas made from sustainably sourced wool, which were a micro-trend in the making. Over the elbow gloves and fur muffs were also fun.

But the ready-to-wear really shone and referenced QEII's wardrobe throughout her life and across many different occasions with gowns fit for a gala at Buckingham Palace, jodhpurs and riding jackets perfect for a jaunt around the grounds of Windsor Castle, Garden Party-ready floral dresses and Balmoral-inspired tartan looks from a pleated knee-length skirt to a faux-fur trimmed coat.

The stand-out colour was, of course, Royal Blue (this also speaks to Pantone's Classic Blue, which the colour authority has declared to be the shade of 2020), which, among other places, was employed on Weiland's latest fabric innovation, a new faux sheepskin made from recycled materials. Fuchsia was also powerfully employed as an accent on prints, on accessories and on a flowing silk midi-dress.

Shrimps was the forerunner of a new generation of luxury brands for a conscious millennial consumer and it has proved it is still delivering the goods. A starry front row of Essie Davis, Naomi Shimada, Gabriella Wilde, Blanca Miro, Lucy Williams, Laura Jackson, Greta Bellamacina, Susie Lau, Josephine de La Baume, Olympia Campbell, Amelia Windsor, Elfie Reigate, Polly Nor and Katy Hessel would no doubt have agreed. And it would be nice to think The Queen would too.

Images: Ben Broomfield, courtesy of Shrimps